Luke Evans Never Thought His Broadway Debut Would Include 'Stilettos and Fishnets' (Exclusive)
- - Luke Evans Never Thought His Broadway Debut Would Include 'Stilettos and Fishnets' (Exclusive)
Hedy PhillipsDecember 24, 2025 at 9:15 PM
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Luke Evans in October 2025 -
Luke Evans is set to make his Broadway debut in The Rocky Horror Show in March 2026
He tells PEOPLE that he's been playing around with different iterations of his character, Dr. Frank-N-Furter
The limited-run show begins previews on March 26, 2026, and is set to close on June 21, 2026
Luke Evans is ready to strut onto a Broadway stage for the first time.
The actor, 46, will make his Broadway debut in the 2026 Roundabout Theatre Company revival production of The Rocky Horror Show. He'll play Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the role popularized by Tim Curry in the 1975 film adaptation The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Evans knows he has big high-heeled shoes to fill, following in the footsteps of everyone who has played Dr. Frank-N-Furter in previous productions — from Broadway to the West End.
"I've always wanted to do Broadway, I just didn't think I would be in stilettos and fishnets," he tells PEOPLE with a laugh. "I just didn't think it would be, but it is, and that is going to be me, and I am very excited about it."
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Evans, who spoke to PEOPLE at an event hosted by his fashion brand BDXY and Jack Morgan's Chrome Horse Society Tequila, teased that he's still very much settling into his role and trying out different ways to play the character ahead of the first preview on March 26, 2026.
"It's a role I am very, very aware of," he shares. "Culturally, it's been part of all our lives. You can't get away from the music. Everybody knows at least one song from the show, and so to bring it to life, my version of Frank-N-Furter — which will be different and unique — is special, and doing it on a Broadway stage at Studio 54... It's like the most perfect thing for this show, which is about fluidity and a feeling of 'don't dream it, be it, be yourself, whatever you are.' To do it in a place where hedonism was the norm, I think it's just like the perfect home for it."
The show will be directed by Sam Pinkleton, who won the 2025 Tony Award for directing Oh, Mary!, Cole Escola's hit comedy. Evans tells PEOPLE he considers himself a great fan of Pinkleton's work, and feels honored to work with the visionary.
There are still a lot of question marks around the show — including the whole rest of the cast, which hasn't yet been announced, as well as exactly how high Dr. Frank-N-Furter's heels will be.
As for that last unknown, Evans dishes that he's hoping they're pretty big so he can "tower" over everyone else on stage. The Beauty and the Beast star currently stands at 6'1" and is hoping he'll be at least 6'4", he says.
In The Rocky Horror Show, sweethearts Brad and Janet find themselves swept into Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s outrageous world of glitter and glam when their car breaks down outside his spooky mansion.
The story — penned by Richard O'Brien both for film and screen — is set to a score of rock-n-roll hits by O'Brien as well, including "Science Fiction/Double Feature," "Dammit Janet!" "Sweet Transvestite," "Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a Touch Me," "Hot Patootie" and of course, the "Time Warp."
"I'm going through many iterations in my head of what I can bring to the character that maybe the people I know that's played this character could not," Evans adds of how he's approaching the coming weeks ahead of the show's first preview. "That's part of the fun of recreating something. It's also the challenge. When you bring a character back to the stage that's been played by many famous people, the challenge is to do something different, to do something new. That can be aesthetically as well as performance and vocal. I've got some very fun ideas up my sleeve, and we'll see how far they let me go with it."
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Luke Evans in 2024 (left); Tim Curry as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the 1975 film 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'
Evans recently returned to the stage for the first time in 16 years in Backstairs Billy, directed by Michael Grandage on London’s West End. His upcoming film projects include Emergency, Bear Country and World Breaker.
Tickets for The Rocky Horror Show are currently available. The show will start previews March 26, 2026, and run through June 21, 2026.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
